Quotes Which Reveal The Transitional Nature of Communism

Here are a collection of quotes which reveal the transitional nature of Communism.

Part 2 of This Series:

"No social order is ever destroyed before all the productive forces for which it is sufficient have been developed, and new superior relations of production never replace older ones before the material conditions for their existence have matured within the framework of the old society..." - Karl Marx

“The idea held by some socialists that we need capital but not the capitalists is altogether wrong. It is posited within the concept of capital that the objective conditions of labour - and these are its own product - take on a personality towards it, or, what is the same, that they are posited as the property of a personality alien to the worker. The concept of capital contains the capitalist” - Karl Marx

"The Communists therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement. The immediete aim of the Communists is the same as that of all other proletarian parties: formation of the proletariat into a class, overthrow of the bourgeois supremacy, conquest of political power by the proletariat" - Karl Marx

"In all probability, the proletarian revolution will transform existing society gradually and will be able abolish private property only when the means of production are in sufficient quantity" - Friedrich Engels

"So long as it is not possible to produce so much that there is enough for all all. With more left over for expanding social capital and extending the forces of production... there must always be a ruling class directing the use of society's productive forces, and a poor oppressed class" - Friedrich Engels

"In any socialist revolution. After the proletariat seizes power and basically finishes the task of depriving exploiters and supressing their revolt. It is bound to give priority to the fundamental task of creating a social structure higher than that of the capitalists and improving labor productivity" - V.I. Lenin

"No one, I think, in studying the question of the economic system of Russia, had denied its transitional character. Nor, I think, has any Communist denied that the term Socialist Soviet Republic implies the determination of Soviet power to achieve the transition to socialism, and not that the new economic system is recognised as a socialist order" - V.I. Lenin

"Socialism is inconceivable without large-scale capitalist engineering based on the latest discoveries of modern science. It is inconceivable without planned state organisation which keeps tens of millions of people to the strictest observance of a unified standard in production and distribution. We Marxists have always spoken of this, and it is not worth while wasting two seconds talking to people who do not understand even this (anarchists and a good half of the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries)" - V.I. Lenin

"State capitalism would be a step forward as compared with the present state of affairs in our Soviet Republic... I can imagine with what noble indignation some people will recoil from these words. What! The transition to state capitalism in the Soviet Socialist Republic would be a step forward? Isn't this the betrayal of socialism? We must deal with this point in detail. Our state capitalism differs essentially from the state capitalism in countries that have bourgeois governments in that the state with us is represented not by the bourgeoisie, but by the proletariat, who has succeeded in winning the full confidence of the peasantry. On the contrary. The development of capitalism. Controlled and regulated by the proletarian state (i.e.. 'state' capitalism in this sense of the term). is advantageous and necessary in an extremely devastated and backward small-peasant country..." - V.I. Lenin

"What would happen if capital succeeded in smashing the Republic of Soviets? There would set in an era of the blackest reaction in all the capitalist and colonial countries, the working class and the oppressed peoples would be seized by the throat, the positions of international Communism would be lost" - J.V. Stalin

"Either place yourself at the mercy of capital, eke out a wretched existence as of old and sink lower and lower, or adopt a new weapon - this is the alternative imperialism puts before the vast masses of the proletariat. Imperialism brings the working class to revolution" - J.V. Stalin

"It's true that [Mao] made mistakes in a certain period, but he was after all a principal founder of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic of China. In evaluating his merits and mistakes, we hold that his mistakes were only secondary. What he did for the Chinese people can never be erased. In our hearts, we Chinese people will always cherish him as a founder of our Party and our state" - Deng Xiaoping

"No matter to what degree we open up to the outside world and admit foreign capital. It's relative magnitude will be small and it can't affect our system of socialist public ownership of the means of production. Absorbing foreign capital and technology and even allowing foreigners to construct plants in China can only play a complementary role to our efforts to develop the productive forces in a socialist society. Of course, this will bring some decadent capitalist influences into China. We are aware of this possibility: it's nothing to be afraid of" - Deng Xiaoping

"Our reform is an experiment not only for China but also for the rest of the world. We believe the experiment will succeed. If it does, our experience may be useful to the cause of world socialism and to other developing countries. If we assume that by mid-21st century our population will have reached 1.5 billion and that we shall a per capita GNP of $4,000, then our total annual GNP will be $6 trillion, and we will place China in the front ranks of nations. When we reach that goal, we shall not only have blazed a new path for the peoples of the Third World, who represent quarters of the world's population, but also - and this is even more important - shall have demonstrated to manking that socialism is the only path and that it is superior to capitalism" - Deng Xiaoping

"At present, we are still a relatively poor nation. It is impossible for us to undertake many international proletarian obligations, so our contributions remain small. However, once we have accomplished the four modernisations and the national economy has expanded, our contributions to mankind, and especially to the Third World, will be greater. As a socialist country, China shall always belong to the Third World and shall never seek hegemony. This idea is understandable because China is still quite poor, and is therefore a Third World country in the real sense of the term. The question is whether or not China will practise hegemony when it becomes more developed in the future. My friends, you are younger than I, so you will be able to see for yourselves what happens at that time. If it remains a socialist country, China will not practise hegemony and it will still belong to the Third World. Should China become arrogant, however, act like an overlord and give orders to the world, it would no longer be considered a Third World country. Indeed, it would cease to be a socialist country. I first addressed these points in a speech delivered at the Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1974. The current foreign policy, which was formulated by Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai, will be passed on to our descendants" - Deng Xiaoping

"Socialist politics with Chinese characteristics does not exclude political participation by private enterprise owners as long as they follow the basic principles of the leadership of the CPC, people as masters of the country, and rule of law. Therefore, the ruling Party should allow the private enterprise owners to participate in politics within the framework of the system with Chinese characteristics and grant them full expression of their economic needs and political will. Of course, their political participation should be conducive, rather than detrimental, to safeguard the purity and vanguard nature of the ruling Party and the healthy development of socialist modernisation with Chinese characteristics" - Jin Huiming

"The concessionaire is a capitalist. He conducts his business on capitalist lines, for profit, and is willing to enter into an agreement with the proletarian government in order to obtain superprofits or raw materials which he cannot otherwise obtain, or can obtain only with great difficulty" - V.I. Lenin

"Western economics' knowledge about finance, prices, currency, markets, competition, trade, exchange rates, industries, enterprises, growth, management, etc., reflects the general laws of socialised mass production and market economy, and should be used for reference. At the same time, with regard to foreign countries, especially Western economics, we must insist on removing the rough and the essence, removing the falsehood and keeping the truth, insisting on focusing on me and using it for me. For the content that reflects the attributes and values ​​of the capitalist system, and for the content that has the color of Western ideology, Can't copy it. In our economics teaching, we must talk about Marxist political economy. We must talk about the political economy of socialism in contemporary China, and we must not be marginalised" - Xi Jinping

Part 3: